


Happy Holidays

by Deberzer



Category: Tomb Raider (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-14
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-05-01 15:43:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5211455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deberzer/pseuds/Deberzer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Purely fluffy (and partially smutty) one-shots related to holidays and other events. Set starting half a year after Yamatai. Rise of the Tomb Raider unrelated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 24th December

**Author's Note:**

> Those one-shots have been my very first attempts at writing fanfiction. I'm not happy any more with some aspects, but maybe some of you enjoy them anyway. The Christmas and New Year's Eve texts were beta'd by The Whistfull Bloom from fanfiction.net, and I can't really take credit for the writing style because she practically revamped half of those two one-shots. The other two were beta'd by TeenyTinyIrishPerson. Anyway, happy fluffy reading!

"Ugh," I groaned, looking at the alarm clock next to my bed. 5:23 AM on Christmas Eve, and I had just woken from another horrible nightmare, drenched in my sweat. I rolled over and stared at the wall. The squeaking mattress sounded so loud in the otherwise silent flat. The only other sounds I could hear were those of the traffic outside. Other than that... nothing. Of course, I'd be all alone for Christmas. My parents... vanished or dead when I was still a child. Roth died in my arms a few months ago, because I'd lead us into the Dragon Triangle, and onto that bloody island. The frown on my face deepened with every thought.

The only person left alive, the closest I had to family, was in Japan.

Sam.

Her father had asked her to spend the holidays with her family, and how could she refuse? Or, rather, how could I have let her refuse? How often did it happen that he asked her to spend time with him? She asked me if I wanted her to stay. When I told her to go, she'd asked to come with her, and she would have sweet-talked her father into allowing that... but I was just not up to dealing with a Nishimura Christmas. She had been gone for five days now, and I had been regretting my decision since she had left. Being alone again for so long, for the first time since... It was taking its toll on me.

Sam had been lovingly taking care of me; helping me deal with my injuries, calming me down when I had panic attacks, helping me sleep at night. I rarely seemed to have nightmares when I knew she was around. When I had mostly recovered, about two months ago, she started dragging me out of our flat again to have fun together. It was quite remarkable how she managed to cheer me up in all situations. But I thought she needed a break from being around me, so I let her go over Christmas.

I missed her.

Silence.

I was trying to fall asleep again, but something wouldn't let me. I wished Sam was there, cuddled up against me, snoring quietly into my shoulder. I would have had my arm around her, stroking her back slowly, planting a kiss on her head, taking in the scent of her hair. I smiled at the thought of that scene.

Sam. I loved her. Was I telling her that often enough? My smile faded. I missed her so much.

I hate Christmas.

I became restless in my bed. Bloody squeaking. I needed to do something, get out of here. I quickly put on clothes, grabbed my keys and some money just in case. But before leaving, my eyes rested on the little oblong package on the table in the living room. A present I'd bought for Sam a few days ago, on one of my long walks. How would she react to it? Worries started to seep into my mind. I shook myself out of it and left the flat for a jog. Dawn was still at least an hour away. The air was chilly, but it was not cold enough for snow, so the dark clouds up in the sky greeted me with a light drizzle. Oh god, perfect weather. I made a face, sighed, and started running. A couple passed me, strolling towards a bakery laughing. I looked at them and thought about Sam. I quickened my pace as I made my way through the streets. My mind started wandering off into all the dark corners of my memory yet again, filled with the horrible events of Yamatai. Sam abducted by the Solarii, the seemingly endless battle with the inhabitants of the island, and Mathias. Himiko. Pictures of people I killed floated through my head. I remembered again how that corpse tried to fill up Sam with its foul soul. I was still recovering from all of that when Sam got abducted yet again, this time because of me, by Solarii worshippers. They wanted to lure me back to Yamatai to sacrifice me, to resurrect Mathias. Crazy bastards. Then there was Danny, who shot me in the shoulder and made me jump off a cliff. My arm started aching at the thought of that. When my frown couldn't get any deeper, I tried to shake myself out of the dark passageways in my head, back into the real ones around me. Quietly, I cursed myself. Why do these memories always come rushing back when my mind is not occupied? Desperately needing other thoughts to fill it, I started wondering what Sam was doing. She was probably being her goofy, funny self, entertaining whoever she was with that moment, telling embarrassing stories and laughing, her eyes sparkling with the energy and enthusiasm, her lovely lips drawn up into a cheeky grin, loose strands of hair falling into her face. Sam.

Stopping dead in my tracks, I looked around. Where was I? Shit, I'd done it again. I'd gotten lost in my head. And, consequently, in my surroundings. My clothes were drenched from my sweat and the pouring rain the drizzle had turned into. How long had I been running? I was completely exhausted, my legs wobbly, my arms shaking. And this bloody headache. I was angry with myself. Luckily a nearby cab stopped for me. My body calmed down during the drive, and when I got out of the cab I was freezing cold. My shaking hands had trouble putting the keys into the lock. I grabbed my mobile off the desk in the living room, and looked at the screen – 10:41 AM. I threw it onto the couch and left small puddles on my way into the bathroom. After a long hot shower, I looked at myself in the mirror, fiddling with the leather string of the jade necklace I had put back around my neck. I could feel my mind slipping away again, until it was overshadowed by the grumbling in my stomach. I put on some dry clothes in my room and shuffled into the kitchen to open the fridge. Looking inside I let out a long sigh, grabbed some cold leftovers from the day before, and threw them into the microwave oven. I sank down onto the couch in the living room, typed 'Hey' into my mobile, and sent it Sam's way. I hoped she would be able to cheer me up. Half a minute later, my mobile buzzed. That lifted my spirits a bit.

"Hey urself! Whatchadoin"

"Oh... stuff."

"OMG I am so sorry for leaving you there alone :("

"I've survived worse ...I think. How are you?"

"fine fine, kinda bored, but I'll be a lot better soon, ho ho ho"

"Are you getting drunk?"

"HAH I'll tell you later. gotta go. love you!"

"Love you too. Miss you."

I looked at the screen with a smile on my face. When my arm fell back down, my eyes rested on the little package on the table again. I started to feel uneasy, and shifted around on the couch. Several moments later, I got up and into the kitchen to make some tea and to grab my measly meal. I shuffled back into my room to settle down at my desk. In front of me were mountains of documents, books, notes and random papers, all dedicated to my newest research project, and in a valley in the middle of it all my laptop. I piled up some books to make some space for my food and set to work.

Research, writing, reading, research, reading, writing... reading... writing... ... research ...

I was so tired from the lack of sleep I'd had these last few days.

I woke up suddenly, and looked sleepily at the mess on my table. "Ugh," I frowned, and my head dropped back down on the desk.


	2. 25th December

I woke again, to find myself in bed. Apparently, I'd also managed to sleep through most of the day, and well past the night. It was the first time since Sam had left that I'd had a restful sleep. I rolled around onto the other side and stared at...

Sam?

She was lying next to me, her head rested in the crook of my arm, gently snoring into my side. What was she doing here? She wasn't supposed to come back for another few days. Had she abandoned her holidays from me and come back? Oh, Sam. I gently stroked her cheek and planted a kiss on her head, taking in the scent of her hair. A broad smile formed on my face and I settled back peacefully into the pillow, watching Sam sleep.

When I came to again, Sam was looking at me with a dreamy smile, still lying on my shoulder.

"Hey, babe," she said and gently pulled my head down into a kiss. "Good morning."

"This morning couldn't be any better," I whispered smiling. Then, raising an eyebrow I asked "What are you doing here, though?"

"What? Not happy to see me?" She raised her eyebrows and pouted. I rolled my eyes at that. "I felt so bad about leaving you here over Christmas. You know what? Screw dad, I missed you. I was already at the airport when you messaged me yesterday. And..." she rolled on top of me, put her arms around my head and leant in for another firm kiss. "Oh. My. Gooood. I missed your lips."

I couldn't believe this girl. Despite the fact that I had recovered from my injuries months ago, I had still felt like I had been a burden to her for a long time. I had tried to give her some space and some time without me, yet she had come back to me because she'd missed me. I held her head in my hands, stroking her cheeks with my thumbs. "I love you, Sam. So much. You know that, right?"

She gave me a mischievous smile and looked at me with heavy lidded eyes. "Hmmm, I don't know, you might have to show me what you mean."

I smacked her arm slightly and pulled her down again, smiling. Our lips parted slightly and our tongues kept touching while I explored every bit of Sam's gentle lips. I loved to do that.

After a few minutes she pulled back, breathless, and whispered "I love you more than you could ever know. You're incredible." I laughed softly, but the way she looked at me told me how sincere she was. She kissed my nose, my cheek and down my neck, wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her head on my chest. She had a smile on her face. "And you're hot." After a pause she whispered "What did I do to deserve you?"

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Are you kidding me? I was a complete mess. Twice. But you stuck with me, through everything. There is no way I would have recovered if it hadn't been for you. What did I do to deserve you?"

She looked up at me. "To be honest... You don't know how good it felt being needed by you for a change, and not vice-versa. You saved me three times now! Oh, my god."

"And I'd do it again, as often as necessary."

We were lying there for a few minutes when suddenly she got up and sat down on my thighs with a look on her face as if she'd just remembered something very important. "So, like, merry Christmas!" She spread out her arms and added with a grin, "I have presents for you!" She got out of bed and traipsed into the living room in her pyjamas. Of course she'd have presents for me. She loved to go on her shopping sprees, and if she had planned to fly back to London for Christmas, there was obviously no chance that she wouldn't have taken the opportunity to visit half the shops in Tokyo to buy something for me. Curious, I got out of bed and followed her. There was a little tower of packages in various sizes piled on top of the table. Sam was kneeling on the ground behind it all, grinning with anticipation.

"Go on," she said, pointing at the presents. I took the smallest one from the top of the pile and opened it. Inside was a scrunchy that looked like red and silver Christmas tree tinsel. I rolled my eyes and Sam laughed at my reaction. When I was about to put it back down on the table, she looked at me sheepishly and said "C'mon, Lara. I knoooow you want to use it. Pleeeeaase?"

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow but she kept staring at me with that pleading look. That's Sam for you, giving me a present that she found funny, making me use it for her own amusement. But I wanted her to be happy, so I took my own scrunchy out of my hair and while I was still doing that, Sam stood up, took hers out of the box and walked up behind me. She carefully remade the braid with the tinsel and took a step away, probably pleased with herself. I sighed. She stepped towards me, wrapped her arms around me, and planted a kiss on my neck. I could feel her grin.

"Go on," she said into my ear and gestured towards the remaining presents.

Next up were a few boxes with different sweets and candies, and a bundle of Jaffa Cakes. At the bottom of the mountain were two larger presents. One turned out to be a compact first aid kit. What a lovely present, but it made me laugh. "I'm pretty sure you're going to need that more than the other presents," was her comment, "and it will fit nicely into your backpack." I couldn't argue with that.

The last one was a notebook with leather cover, and my name engraved into the side. "You know, I thought maybe it's time you made your own, instead of staring at your father's." That... was actually quite nice of her. I could get very lost in my archaeological studies and research, and Sam always tried to pull me out of it to relax and have fun with her. It sometimes made me feel like she disapproved of my passion. Yet... there were these moments and gestures where she showed how supportive she actually was – besides the fact that she always insisted on sticking to me like a limpet when I went on archaeological trips.

I turned around and drew Sam into a long hug. "Thank you so much, Sam."

Now that I had been through all her presents, I guessed it was my turn. I got nervous. I actually had two presents for her, one more awkward than the other. And the combination of both... My cheeks turned red. But I had been sure Sam would appreciate those gifts. I pulled out of the hug a bit and whispered "I may have a present or two for you, as well."

Sam looked surprised and then suspicious. We hadn't planned on giving each other presents for Christmas, since we had known that Sam would be in Japan without me for a while. "Besides hot and completely badass, are you psychic, too? Did you expect me to be here today?"

"Yes." I mystically moved my arms in the air before tapping her gently on the nose. "Of course not. I planned on giving them to you whenever you came back. Wait here a moment." I walked back into my room. "No peeking!" I closed the door and leaned against it. I felt my heart pounding at the thought of the presents I planned on giving Sam. I was so nervous. The day after Sam had left, I'd been thinking about what I could give a girl who could afford absolutely anything. I knew she wished I'd try to be a bit sexier. I figured I could give it at least half a try, just for her. So I'd entered a clothing store, alone - which didn't happen very often since Sam had practically been doing my shopping for a while now – and bought this skimpy black thong underwear. It was nothing lacy or fancy, but I was sure it would be an unusual sight on me, one Sam would appreciate.

I took it out of my cupboard with a worried look and held it in front of me. I let out a deep sigh, threw it onto my bed and undressed myself. I stepped into the panties, pulled them up and the thong slid in between my buttocks. Certainly not a feeling I was used to. I hooked up my bra, and then worriedly smoothed my attire down. I went up to the door and stopped, putting my forehead against it, drawing slow breaths and trying to muster the courage to step out of the room. This was ridiculous. I had survived Yamatai twice, but was worried about presenting myself in some skimpy underwear to Sam, who saw me naked regularly. I heard Sam walk up to the other side of the door.

"Lara, are you OK?"

I smiled at her concern. Not wanting to worry her any further, I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped out. I watched her expression closely. Her look went from surprise to a growing smile, and eventually a lip-bite. My cheeks felt like they were on fire. "Oh, Lara..." she said, a little breathless.

"Ta da!" I did a quick twirl.

"Oh, my God." was her assessment. I think she was actually close to drooling. A fraction of a second later, she had me pinned against the door, her lips pressed against mine and her hands grabbing my naked behind. There was pure hunger in that kiss. I liked that I was able to make her feel that way. That actually got me going as well. Her hands started sliding up the sides of my body, and it was obvious where this would have been going if this had kept up, but I had to try to stop her. I still had to, somehow, give her my second present – which required a lot more courage. I tried to gently push her away, but she wouldn't let go. I pushed a bit harder and whispered "Sam..." into her lips.

She reluctantly stopped and looked at me, flustered. She said in a small voice "Lara, you can't stand there like that and then not let me have some."

I smiled at her. "I have one more present for you."

She looked at me for a moment suspiciously. "Now I'm worried. If you decided to show me this first, then what on earth could you want to give me now? I don't think I can take more than that."

I grinned slightly, went over to the table and lifted up the little oblong box that had been lying there for a few days now. I hesitated for a moment before turning around and holding the box out to her, trying hard to maintain a poker face. Sam walked slowly towards me, her eyes darting between my face, the box and my cleavage. She slowly took the box out of my hand, her eyes fixed on mine, trying to read my expression. My heart was pounding and, despite the fact that it was December, and bloody cold outside, and I was standing here in skimpy underwear, I was starting to sweat. She opened the box and studied the little golden pendant that was inside. It had Japanese motifs engraved on it, and was a small locket a small picture could be put inside. "This looks really pretty," she said, apparently still wondering if there was more to it, judging by her suspicious look. I stepped up to her, took it out of the box and put the chain around her neck. She looked down at the pendant and lifted it closer to her eyes. I wrapped my arms around her from behind and rested my head on her shoulder, closely watching her hands. She started fiddling around with the pendant. Suddenly it sprang open, and she held up the golden ring inside.

I heard her gasp and then whisper "Oh... God..."

My cheeks were burning red when I let go of her to walk around and sink down to my knees in front of her. What had I been thinking? When had I decided this was a good idea? To kneel in front of Sam in skimpy underwear - and a tinsel scrunchy in my hair - on Christmas Day and propose to her? But I wanted her. I wanted her for myself for the rest of our lives. She was my family and I wanted to show that to her as clearly as possible. As ridiculous as I thought this scene must have looked, I was... somewhat... sure I was pushing the right buttons. I started getting second thoughts again, though. What if this was not what she wanted? What if she refused and things got awkward between us? But it was too late for that now.

Sam just gaped at me with what looked like a hint of worry, while her eyes started swimming. With furrowed brows, I tried to force myself to say something, despite the lump in my throat: "Sam..."

But before I could continue, she instantly said "Yes. Lara, yes!" With shaking hands she put the ring on her finger and she threw herself at me. She wrapped her arms around me, pressed my body into hers as strongly as she could, and started crying into my shoulder. It took a while for the thought to sink into my mind that everything actually had worked out the way I had hoped. I relaxed my head against hers and gently stroked her back, tears running down my cheeks as well. When I started to kiss her neck, I heard her laugh in between her whimpers.

"Lara, was your plan to kill me with affection? Whatever made you think I deserved the death penalty!" That made me laugh. After a pause she added weakly "God, this was a complete overload on my mind. You are merciless."

"I'm... sorry?"

She snorted. "You are totally not." She leaned back to look at me with the broadest smile she could achieve, tears still on her cheeks. I reached up to wipe them away with my thumbs and she instantly leaned in to press her lips against mine. It quickly developed into one of the most passionate kisses we'd shared in a long time. When we parted after what felt like forever, we took a while to catch our breath. Her eyes rested on mine for a minute, and then travelled down to my cleavage and back up. "I am... unbelievably happy right now, but also incredibly turned on. You still have to let me appreciate your first present. Properly." She said with a grin and wiggled her eyebrows. I laughed once and placed a kiss on her forehead with a smile. Somehow, I managed to stand up, even though my legs felt like pudding. After I helped her up, she took a long and deep breath and darted into my room, pulling me with her.

I love Christmas.


	3. 31st December

"Oh, god. No! Not again!"

Sam had just come back from buying us something for brunch, and was holding out the New Year's Eve edition of a newspaper towards me. Apparently, it was looking on the most important events of the year. I was staring at myself from the front page. The Lara in the picture looked like she wanted to jump out of the paper and kill me with her bare hands. It was one of a multitude of awful pictures that had been taken when we had reached the shores of Osaka, after Yamatai. People probably thought I was crazy, with the way I had reacted to the reporters. Well, at times I had thought I'd been crazy. The whole Yamatai ordeal had become big news around the world, and more than a few newspapers were eager to bully me. Reporters had followed us around everywhere. But due to my injuries and... other problems... I had rarely left our flat, and had rarely encountered them. At some point, the interest in us had ebbed away, but the damage had been done. Some people were outright afraid of me, and shouted nasty remarks after me. Some of the most humiliating moments of my life had been in those first few months after coming back. And if people were reminded by these newspapers...

I groaned and put my head in my hands.

"I'm engaged to a celebrity!" Sam faked a smug look.

It took a moment for her words to sink in. "No, Sam! If they hear about that, they'll be all over us again."

For a moment, neither of us said anything.

"Are you regretting our engagement?" I heard her whisper.

"What? No!" I quickly raised my head, looking at her worriedly and... she was grinning at me. I groaned and put my head back into my hands. I felt the couch give as Sam sat down beside me.

"Hey, sweetie. It'll be okay. We'll go out, get wasted, and enjoy ourselves. And if some ass can't shut up, you'll knock him out. With, like, a finger." She threw an arm around my shoulders and leant against me.

I had promised her that we'd go to some club tonight, and enjoy ourselves. And at midnight, we'd watch the fireworks at the Thames together. Even though I'd rather have stayed at home after seeing the newspaper, I couldn't really say no now. She was really looking forward to it.

I sighed.

"Lara, trust me. It'll be okay." She gave me one of those really loving smiles, and I was instantly distracted from my worries. I didn't care any more about the prospects of having to endure the stares of strangers everywhere. God, she was so beautiful. This beautiful smile, on her beautiful face, with her beautiful lips and her beautiful eyes... My beautiful Sam. I just wanted to...

I'm not sure what it was, but something, seemingly, had changed since I'd proposed to her. I had loved her before. I'd found her beautiful and charming, and caring and lovely and... I'd been really attracted to her. But everything seemed more intense now. Maybe this was how she had felt about me, for who knows how long. There had been moments where she'd been watching me, and I could see it on her face- she looked ready to pounce. Or where we'd kissed for a bit, and I could almost feel her mind already going a lot further, while I hadn't actually been interested in anything more.

I'm sure I was blushing while she stroked my cheek affectionately. "Okay..." I whispered.

Her face lit up. "Lara, you're the best." She announced, and kissed me on the head. She stood up and clapped her hands once. "I'm starving. Let's eat!" She grabbed the bag she'd brought with her and went into the kitchen. I followed to watch her spreading out bagels, croissants and some muffins on the table. I felt my stomach grumble. Apparently, she'd also bought herself a cup of coffee and for me one with juice. I made a face but decided not to comment. When I sat down and started eating, Sam was already absently nibbling on a croissant while fiddling with her mobile phone.

"So... It looks like that club nearby is having a New Year's Eve party. Entrance from nine onwards. Hm..." Having finished her croissant, she moved on to a muffin. "You know, it has a restaurant, a bar and several dance floors. It's perfect. We can eat dinner there, get you drunk, and then make everyone jealous 'cause we'll be the hottest pair on the dance floor. It's gonna be awesome." She narrowed her eyes at her mobile. She looked up at me, seemingly deep in thought, and then back down.

"Sam?" I asked, puzzled.

She put the mobile down on the table. Taking a bite of her muffin, she gave me a grin. "Dress code 'stylishly sexy'."

I sighed. "Can't we go somewhere else? Somewhere where you can't play dress-up with me?"

Her grin did not disappear. "No. I already ordered a table, and I am sooo not missing out on a chance to get you into something skimpy."

I rolled my eyes, sighing again.

She watched me for a moment, and then walked around the table to sit down on my lap. "Lara..." She tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. "You need to relax. C'mon, it's gonna be fun. We'll find you something nice to wear. Actually, you could wear a plastic bag, and I'd still find you sexy." She grinned at me, winding her arms around my neck. She kissed me affectionately, while absently playing with my braided hair. My stomach was full of butterflies. I always loved the feeling of her soft lips on mine. She broke the kiss to change her position, straddling my lap. While doing that, for a moment that seemed too long to be pure chance, her breasts hovered in front of my face. That... was turning me on. I felt the strong need to put them into my hands and lean forward. But before I could do anything, she sat down on my lap again and continued kissing me. I may have responded a bit too vigorously. She broke the kiss to look at me, both flustered and a bit surprised. "Woah, I think you need to finish eating brunch, or you're going to eat me." I watched her stand up, grab a bagel, and then walk towards the living room, humming cheerfully. I was a little disappointed.

"Maybe we should go for a walk to the Nine Bells in the afternoon, to loosen you up a bit for the evening. And I'm sure Mr. Ansell would be happy to see you again." Sam called from the living room.

"Which he'd express with a cheerful grunt," I replied, and she snorted.

I finished eating and went to leave the kitchen when Sam added more quietly "And maybe I'll get you into that underwear you wore on Christmas." Oh, god. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Sam, I heard that."

"Shit." She hissed.

I entered the living room to see Sam sitting on the couch, looking at me sheepishly. I squinted at her. "No." She kept looking at me. "Sam, no."

She rolled her eyes. "We'll see what you say when we're back from the bar." She winked at me.

I sighed and joined her on the couch. Sam took the remote control for the TV from the table and crawled behind me, pulling me back to lean against her. "Can we watch something and relax? We'll need our energy for the evening."

"You need your energy, you mean," I said, turning my head sideways so that I could see her.

She gave me a look and poked my shoulder. "Not everyone can be a fitness freak like you. Though, those muscles of yours are incredibly sexy." She wiggled her eyebrows and pulled me into a kiss. Those lips. I sighed happily into her. She opened my mouth with her lips, as I put a hand behind her head and pressed her against me. She dropped the remote, gently putting a hand on my waist, sliding it underneath my shirt. She slowly moved over my belly, up my ribcage, to the hem of my bra. I inhaled sharply as she cupped my breast and thumbed across my nipple, over the material of the bra. Though, a moment later, she pulled away. She kissed me on the forehead, settled back into the couch, and pulled me back to lean against her again. "Let's see what's on." She said cheerfully, picking the remote back up and turning the TV on.

I just stared into space, blushing. What had just happened? What was she doing? Why had she stopped so suddenly? I was about to ask, when I saw what was on the telly. Even the TV was recounting the major events of the year. And, of course, they showed me. Footage of me getting transported into a hospital on a stretcher. I groaned and pleaded. "Sam, please."

"Sorry." She planted a kiss on the top of my head and zapped through TV channels. She eventually settled on a reality show. I knew what was about to happen. Sam started complaining about details in the production of the show. She was a nerd when it came to things like that. But it had something soothing to it, her talking enthusiastically over the sound of the TV. She had one arm wrapped around my middle, hugging me against her. Her other hand kept wandering, stroking my hair, my cheeks or my neck. When she didn't speak, she rested her head on mine. It was so peaceful... and relaxing.

I love you, Sam.

…..

I must have had dozed off. When I opened my eyes, I was lying on the couch, tucked into a blanket. I looked around. The living room was empty and silent. The TV was turned off.

"Sam?"

I propped myself up on an arm and listened for while. Nothing. I flopped back down on the couch, put an arm over my eyes, and sighed. I really didn't want to be alone right now. When I wasn't distracted, my mind tended to start wandering, which usually meant my mind crept into dark corners. Considering the newspaper and TV coverage I'd been confronted with earlier... I was just not up for that. Flopping my legs over the edge of the couch, I sat there for a moment, my head in my hands. I frowned. What could I do to distract myself? Maybe jog? I still hadn't finished the research I started before Christmas. There was also this paper for the British Museum that needed to be done within the next two weeks. But I was spiritless. It felt as if the worries that had been occupying my mind all morning had consumed my energy. Worries about the upcoming evening, about a nightclub full of people, about strangers recognizing me, about them shouting at me. Who knew what could happen?

"Sam...?" I was surprised at how desperate my voice sounded.

I sighed deeply, and didn't move for a few minutes. Eventually, I managed to get up, and decided to take a shower. The water hitting my skin was unexpectedly cold.

I was suddenly in a small room, surrounded by cold salt water, hammering against a tiny, round window. I needed help. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't speak- I couldn't breathe! I had to open this bloody door. I had to get out of the room, before I drowned. But the door wouldn't budge. It was jammed. I kept hammering at the window, desperate for air. My hands were aching. My movements were sluggish, my arms going limp. No. No! This couldn't be happening! Air... I needed air...

I slowly sank down, ebbing away from the door. It was so cold. So cold...

Suddenly the door sprang open and a strong arm grabbed mine, pulling me up. I emerged from the water, desperately gasping for air. I coughed and coughed, water pouring out of my mouth.

"Lara! Hurry up!"

I could hardly see, everything was so hazy. I knew I needed to run. I needed to get out of here. But my limbs felt numb, my body was shaking. I was so cold. I crawled forward, driven by some strange spurt of power. Eventually, I managed to get up, and started walking. Running. Sprinting. Suddenly the ground ended, a large gap of nothingness in front of me.

"Lara, jump!"

I could make out someone standing on the other side of the chasm, an arm extended. The figure looked familiar. Seeing it caused a spark of hope to crackle inside me. I could make it. I knew it. I kept running to the edge of the chasm and jumped with all the power I could muster. I was flying. Beneath me was nothing but blackness. I was panicking. I tried to reach out for the figure on the other side, extending my arms as far as possible. Please. Please! Help me! A familiar, firm grip enclosed around my hand. My body swung forward from the momentum, colliding with something solid. Pain shot through my nerves. They desperately tried to hold onto me, but my hand was wet and slippery.

Then, I fell.

"Lara!"

I fell into the darkness below. The familiar figure disappeared from my sight, and with it the spark of hope. It was replaced by panic. What was happening? Suddenly, I hit something. Pain shot through me. Cold wetness was surrounding me again. I gasped from the shock. But instead of air, I inhaled water. Strong currents jerked me back and forth. I didn't know whether I was going up or down. I needed air. I needed to breathe. I needed help. Help! I tried to scream, but I could only splutter out gasps as my head went back under. I didn't know what to do. I frantically moved my arms and legs, to no avail. My heart was pounding, my body shaking, my throat throbbing. I was powerless. My energy drained. Air spent.

Blackness.

I came to when my shoulder hit something. I desperately gasped for air. I kept coughing and gasping violently, tears in my eyes. I felt ground beneath me. After a few minutes, I managed to steady my breathing. I opened my eyes, but everything was still hazy. Help?! My view cleared slowly, and I realized I was staring at stony ground below me, my arms shaking at the edges of my vision. I slowly rose my head and looked around. Where was I? Where was everyone else? Something bright was in the distance. I squinted at it. I could make out several figures standing in the light. Who were they? They looked familiar. Very familiar. Sam?

"Sam? Sam! SAM!" I cried and cried. Please, hear me! Please! Please! "Saaaam!"

"Lara? Lara! I'm here, I'm here!"

I could feel a hand on my shoulder. It was so warm and gentle, so comforting, so familiar. I closed my eyes for a moment, relieved. When I opened them again, I was curled up in the shower. My body was shaking heavily. I was so cold. Unbearable pain was pulsing through my head.

I hadn't gone through a memory like that in a long time. Which meant that when I did have one, it surprised me more than usual, and felt even more devastating.

Sam was kneeling beside me, hugging me and rubbing my back gently. Her clothes were wet from the water on my skin. Occasional drips from the shower head fell onto her back. "Oh, Lara," she whispered.

I felt so miserable. I hated it. I hated all of it. Stupid flashbacks. How painful they were. How devastated I always felt afterwards. I hated pulling Sam into it, throwing all of my problems onto her. I made her worry all of the time. "I'm sorry, Sam..." I muttered, frowning, "I am so, so sorry. I'm such a wreck."

"It's okay, sweetie. It's okay." She sat down against the wall of the shower and pulled me up into a firm hug, my head resting on her shoulder. Sam's gentle presence made me relax. My headache and shaking ebbed away, my breathing steadied. She kissed my temple, my ear, down my neck and along my shoulder. And with that, all the discomfort from the flashback's aftermath vanished. Sam was unbelievable. I was so lucky to have her. I was so happy to have her.

"I love you so much, Sam," I told her.

She stopped kissing me. "I love you, too, sweetie."

I paused for a moment and then whispered "You poor thing."

She just laughed once, but didn't say anything. We rested there for a few minutes, hugging. When I finally regained my strength, Sam helped me up, and we stepped out of the shower. My eyebrows went up as I looked her up and down. "I'm sorry about your clothes," I told her and lifted a sleeve of her shirt, only to have it cling to her skin. Though, I had to admit, she looked very sexy in wet clothes. I felt a warmth build up in my cheeks.

"Worth it," she replied with a mischievous look, looking at my naked body. My blush deepened. For a moment, she just stood there, looking at me, her own cheeks turning pink. And then she stepped in and pulled me into a kiss. This time, she was almost as vigorous as I had been earlier, and it was quite a turn on. Her lips parted mine, her tongue entering my mouth. Her hands moved all over the naked skin of my back, groping at my arse. I wrapped my arms around her, pressing her into me. A moment later, her hands moved up to my waist, backing me up against the tiled wall of the bathroom. She pressed one of her legs between my thighs, and rubbed. It made me take a sharp breath. She kissed along my chin, up one cheek, then back down to my neck. I was breathing so quickly, her hands moving up my ribcage to cup my breasts. Her kisses moved along my collarbone, and down the middle of my chest. Before her mouth could reach my breasts, she stopped and whispered quickly "Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god." I looked down at her, to see she was scrunching her face up, eyes closed. She didn't move at all.

"Sam?" I asked, confused and completely flustered.

She sighed, released my breasts, and straightened her back. "I... I'll get you fresh clothes." With that, she stormed out of the bathroom, leaving me standing against the tiles with a strange tingling between my thighs. What on earth was up with her? Why was she doing that?

When she returned, wearing dry clothes herself, I was still leant against the wall. She held out a bundle of clothes for me, desperately trying to avoid looking at my naked body. I wanted to know what was wrong. "Sam, wha-"

She interrupted me. "You know, I think now would be a pretty good time to go for that walk to the Nine Bells." Sam stated, as flatly as she could. Her cheeks were still flushed red. When I took the clothes, she turned and left the bathroom.

Sam was right; alcohol sounded good right now.

We left our flat and walked down the streets towards the bar, holding hands. It was late afternoon, and the weather hadn't changed much since Christmas. But at least it hadn't rained for the past two days. Still, the sky was grey, and London was gloomy. The West End is always a busy area, but since it was New Year's Eve, more people than usual were out on the streets.

While we walked in silence, I tried to figure out why Sam had been avoiding throwing herself at me all day. She'd got going, and then suddenly stopped. Had she been teasing me? I wondered if I had done anything to upset her. A familiar frown crept back onto my face. I just did not understand. The past week had been quiet, and lovely. Sam had seemed to be so overjoyed about the proposal that she couldn't do anything but grin for days. I'd been afraid her face would stick that way.

Sam was looking at me, and she saw my frown. She released my hand and wrapped an arm around my waist instead, putting her hand into the pocket of my coat and hugging me closer to her. She kissed my cheek once, and then looked ahead again. I followed suit and hugged her back. My mind wanted to trail off, to just enjoy the moment, but I couldn't stop wondering about her odd behaviour earlier. When we walked around a corner, coming close to the Nine Bells, I had to try asking her again. "Sam," I began, and she looked at me.

But, before I could continue, I was interrupted once again. "Hey! Aren't you that Croft bitch?" A gruff voice, that sounded quite drunk, shouted from the other side of the street. Another drunken voice laughed. Sam and me looked around and saw two bulky men lurching over to us. They were both clearly taller than us. The few other people that were walking down the street looked quizzically at them and us.

"Ignore them. Let's keep going, please," Sam whispered in a worried tone, and shoved me forwards. Even though I let her lead me, I tried to turn my head to see the men. I didn't like surprises.

They quickened their pace to catch up with us from behind. "Hey! I was talking to you!" One of them shouted. "I bet someone as famous as her gotta have a lotta cash," the other suggested, to which the first grinned. "You have the money. I get the girl."

"Hey! Gimme your purses!" The second man said.

I felt Sam was about to start running away, but I was sure that would just fuel their anger and they could try to hurt her. No bloody way! I was not going to let that happen. I had to stop them before they could get to her. I released my arm from Sam and instantly she darted forwards. Just a moment later, one of the guys had caught up with me and wanted to follow Sam. I rammed one of my legs into his, making him swear out loud and fall flat onto the pavement. When Sam heard that, and noticed that I wasn't following her, she turned around, looking at me in surprise. I felt a violent grip on my shoulder. The other guy had caught up. I grabbed his arm and jerked him forwards, pulling him towards me. I brought a knee up into his stomach. With him bent over my leg, I brought my elbow down on the back of his head. He fell to the ground, groaning.

"Lara! Behind you!" I heard Sam's cry out, when I was about to turn around and check on the first guy. I winced and gasped as his fist connected with my back.

"Lara! No!" Sam sounded horrified.

He'd gotten up faster than I had expected, and was not as drunk as I'd thought. I threw my elbow backwards, hoping I would hit him, and actually caught him on the sternum. I took the opportunity to turn towards him, and bringing my leg up between his legs. He screamed and bent over, giving me the opportunity to grab a handful of his hair and bring his face down onto my knee. I released my grip, and he fell flat on the ground once again. I looked down at them and saw that neither of them was standing up again. Not bad. I must have looked smug at that moment. I took a look around, and noticed that the other bystanders on the street were gaping at me with their mobile phones pointed into my direction, taking pictures and filming. I turned around and walked away when Sam came running towards me.

"Lara! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." I waved my hand dismissively at her. A bruise was bound to show up later, my elbows feeling a bit numb, and my fingers tingling. But I didn't care about that. "Sam, you're safe. That's all that matters."

Sam gave me a concerned look. "I'm going to go mad, constantly worrying about you!" But then she grinned and added, "but that was totally amazing. I am so fangirling over you right now." She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me affectionately. I heard whistles around us, and more clicking noises from several mobile phones. I knew I should have been concerned about that, but I didn't care at that moment. All I could concentrate on were Sam's soft lips. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. She dragged her lips away from mine and kissed along my cheek towards my ear to whisper into it. "I love you so much, Lara."

Remembering the drunkards, I pulled myself away from her. "We should go." Turning my head backwards to take a look at the two guys, I added, "Before they stand up again." Though both of them were still laying on the ground, groaning. We wrapped our arms back around each other's waists and continued our walk towards the Nine Bells. Sam grinned smugly at someone we passed, who was still filming us with his mobile.

A few minutes later, we entered the pub. It hadn't changed at all since the last time I'd been there, which was when I'd still been working at the bar. The air was as smoky and thick as ever, with a strong scent of alcohol. Several groups of people sat around tables, talking animatedly or watching the large, mounted TV. Charlie, the proprietor, waved us over to the bar. "Lara! Long time no see." A few of the patrons in the pub turned towards us, giving us curious looks. But most of the people simply ignored us, as they did everything else. He placed two large pints in front of us. "On the house," he said, with a smile showing from under his beard.

"Thank you, Mr. Ansell." Sam said, cheerfully, and raised her glass to take a mouthful.

"Hey, Sam. Good to see you, too" Charlie said to her with a nod, while wiping the bar clean with a cloth.

I put my hands around the pint in front of me and looked around the pub. A lot of memories were connected to this place. I'd been working for quite a long time here when I was still studying. At first, Charlie had refused my application. He hadn't believed I could handle it. But I was stubborn. I'd needed the money to help with paying for the rent, and for university. Eventually he'd given in, and it hadn't taken long for him to realize that I could look after myself.

Charlie pulled me out of my memories. "You certainly look a lot better now than you did earlier, on TV." I looked up at him, then over at the TV, and back down to my pint.

"Ugh. Please don't remind me." I said with a frown.

"I guess you take good care of her, eh?" He asked Sam. "Or," he paused. With a raised eyebrow I looked up at him. His eyes focused on the ring on my finger, "maybe someone else does? Who's the lucky guy?"

Sam giggled. I looked down at my beer again and blushed. "Yes, who's the lucky guy, Lara? Can I meet him? He must be sooo amazing, if you said yes to him!" Sam said. She could hardly suppress her laughter.

I shoved her. "Sam!" I wasn't sure if I was up for that at that moment. I took a sip of my drink, refusing to talk.

He looked quizzically at both of us. He was curious enough to stop cleaning the bar.

Sam's grin was ear-to-ear. "Oh, I am soooo curious!" She said and slowly put her left hand on the bar, for Charlie to see, and took a big sip from her pint as well.

Charlie had to do a double take, his eyes darting between Sam and me, and the rings on our hands. "Seriously?"

Sam put her glass back down on the bar and took my head into her hands instead. She made me look at her. "Yes, seriously," she said in the lowest register of her voice and kissed me. I tried to shove her away and tell her to stop, but my attempts were muffled by her mouth on mine. She just smiled into my lips while holding my head in place. I slipped a hand under her coat on to her waist and tickled her. That made her stop, bursting into laughter.

"Oh my god, Sam!" I said to her, blushing deeply. We'd drawn the attention of a fair few patrons by now.

"You two are a riot! Well, congratulations! " Charlie said with a broad smile. He clapped both of us on the shoulder before refilling our glasses. "I'd been wondering if there was something going on between you two."

When he wasn't serving, the three of us chatted cheerfully while Sam and me drank. Deciding not to overdo it, we said our goodbyes once we'd finished, and promised to come by again soon.

It was dark outside now. We decided to take another route back to avoid bumping into the drunkards again. We made our way through the hustle and bustle of all the cafés, bars and restaurants, and got home without incident.

The moment we entered our flat, Sam darted into her room. "We should get ready now and head for the club. I'm starving! And I totally can't wait to get you on the dance floor." I sighed at that, standing awkwardly in the living room, not exactly knowing what to do. "I bought you something to wear tonight when I was out, and..." She paused. She left her room and came back to me. "God, Lara. I am so sorry I left you alone." She looked sad, her brows furrowed.

I put a hand on her cheek, gently stroking it. "Sam, it's okay. It's not like it was your fault. That bloody shower... It was stupid. I should have tested the water before just going straight in. It shocked me how cold it was." I shrugged at her.

She slipped her arms around me and hugged me gently. "It... It breaks my heart to hear you scream, and see you suffer like that."

Hearing her say that hurt. I... I wasn't sure how to reply to that. I hated to make her feel like that. I had been the reason that she had suffered, when all I wanted was for her to be happy... To be happy with me. "I am so, so sorry, Sam." My eyes were swimming with tears.

"No, no. It's okay. I'm here for you. I want to be here for you." She kissed me gently and then looked at me, sighing. After a moment, the sadness vanished from her expression and turned into a smile instead. She planted a kiss on my forehead. "Now, let's get ready. They'll cancel the reservation if we don't show up." She turned back towards her room. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah, I bought you something." She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room with her. When we stopped in front of her bed, my eyebrows shot up. I gaped down at a short black dress with a deep V-cut.

I looked at Sam, slightly horrified. "You're not serious."

She just grinned. Suddenly, she looked like she remembered something. She gave a little gasp and hurried into my room. I looked after her, and then back down at the dress. I frowned. I really did not feel comfortable in dresses. Especially not in dresses Sam liked. And doubly so in those she liked on me. I was still trying to figure out a way to talk her into returning the dress, and letting me wear my casual clothes, when she returned... holding up the black thong panties I had bought for Christmas.

I sank down on her bed, head in my hands. "Oh, god."

Sam climbed onto the bed behind me and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Pleeeaaaase? Just this once? It'll be dark in the club, anyway. But you will look sooo sexy... Woah, I think I am drooling just at the thought of it." She added whispering "And you know you can't say no to me, anyway." I knew she was grinning at that moment. The problem was that she was right. It was always hard to say no to her. I was pretty sure she'd bought that dress knowing that. I sighed heavily in resignation and Sam knew what that meant.

She kissed my neck, and I could feel the smile on her lips. Her hands slipped under my shirt. I had no idea how she was doing that, but no matter how cold it was, her hands were always nicely warm. It was always exhilarating to feel them gently touch my skin. She kissed up my neck and started gently nibbling on my earlobe, while her hands moved slowly up my body, pulling my shirt up. My breathing quickened. Sam's lips had moved on to kissing my cheek, her hands coming to a halt. She couldn't pull my shirt up any further without me raising my arms. In one fluid movement, her hands moved over my bra, unclipped it, and slid back to my chest to cup my breasts. I took a sharp breath before sighing. Sam stopped kissing my skin and moved her hands under my arms, indicating for me to raise them. When I did that, she pulled both the shirt and the bra over my head and arms and placed them behind her. She moved back in to kiss the other side of my neck, and fill her hands with my breasts. She kneaded them and pinched my nipples gently, making me groan. I could feel Sam smile again. Her hands released my breasts and wandered down to undo the button of my pants and open the zip. When Sam slipped one hand into my pants and found out the state I was in, I could feel her smile turn into a broad grin against my skin. I was breathing quickly. But before anything could happen, she pulled her hand out again and stood up. I looked at her, confused. Her grin hadn't disappeared when she grabbed the hem of my pants, and pulled them and my knickers down my legs in a rapid (yet careful) movement. She kissed gently up my legs. I was quivering with anticipation when her mouth moved over my thighs. But when she reached my hips, she just placed a kiss on the mons before pulling the thong panties up my legs and into place. I looked at her, flustered and confused.

She just took my hands. "C'mon, stand up." She pulled me off the bed. She grabbed the dress, gesturing for me to raise my arms. She slid it over my body, and took a step back to admire the view. The dress didn't reach my knees, and the V-cut finished almost at the bottom of my breasts, exposing a lot of cleavage for her to ogle.

I didn't know what was happening. "Sam! What are you doing?! Why are you teasing me all day long?" My voice might have sounded a bit desperate at that point.

She grinned. "I don't know what you're talking about." She kissed my burning cheek. "Oh, I also bought you some flat, black designer boots. Wouldn't want to impair your fighting abilities too much with high heels, would we?" She left me standing there, with a worse tingling between my thighs, and went to dress herself in a silver dress. She slipped on some high heels, made me put on the boots, grabbed our coats and ushered me out of the flat.

It was only a short walk to the nightclub. And I got nervous as we approached. I'd learnt to deal with most of my problems, but I still wasn't too fond of large groups of people- especially in small places. After we'd been let in, and checked in our coats, I froze. The dance floor was bursting with people already; a sea of bodies moving to the waves of strobe lights and heavy basses of loud music, smoke snaking between their legs. It was hypnotizing... and frightening. I started to sweat, drawing quick breaths, my hands clenched to fists. No, no. Don't panic.

Suddenly I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. I turned sideways, to see Sam smiling at me. She leant forward to kiss my cheek and I started to relax again. "Sweetie, it's okay. Come on." She took my hand and lead me through a passageway, which emerged into a decently lit restaurant with a long bar along one wall. Most of the tables were occupied, and the sound of mingled chit-chat was louder than the music seeping in from the dance floor. I felt very uncomfortable standing around in this skimpy dress Sam had forced onto me. I hadn't thought much about it when I'd still been wearing the coat and had been rather preoccupied with worrying about the number of people I'd expected to encounter in this night club. But now I felt oddly self-conscious, afraid people would stare at me, ogle me. A slight blush spread over my cheeks.

A waiter apporached us and showed us to the table Sam had booked. While we waited for the meals we had ordered, Sam brought us cocktails from the bar. Nightclubs and dancing were a big part of her world. She loved that, enjoyed that. And it showed. She moved slightly to the rhythm of the music and smiled at me with a profound happiness, walking back to the table. She looked so beautiful. It made me smile.

"Hey hey, someone seems to be relaxing! Even without gallons of alcohol. Why's that?" She asked cheerfully while putting the cocktails on the table.

"Your happiness is contagious."

She beamed at me. "Obviously." She paused for a moment. "You know, I don't want to get us drunk tonight, anyway. I just want to enjoy the evening with you, and remember it tomorrow."

That worked for me. I preferred to keep control of my senses, anyway. I wondered if I would be able to relax, though. Sam usually needed to fill me up for that to happen in nightclubs. "I guess you'll have to deal with my sober dancing then."

She gave me a mock horrified look. "Well, there are states between stone-cold sober and dead drunk. So... Cheers!" With that she raised her cocktail, and poured it down her throat in one go. I followed suit and emptied my glass. "Besides, you don't even have to dance, and you'd still look awesome on the dance floor. You look so hot in that dress." She bit her lip, looking me up and down from across the table.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoy the view," I replied, blushing slightly. I smiled at her, taking her left hand to kiss it. My eyes rested on the golden ring for a while.

I still could hardly believe that she actually said yes to my proposal a week ago. I'd been so unsure about the whole thing. I'd been very sure that I wanted it. But we'd never spoken about anything of that sort, so I had no idea how she would react. Every time I looked at the ring on her finger, I felt incredibly happy.

I turned her hand around and rested my head in it, while she stroked my cheek with her thumb.

It wasn't long before a waiter brought us our meals, which we bolted down within a few minutes. We hadn't realized how hungry we'd been until we had food in front of us.

"Let's grab some more drinks before we hit the dance floor," Sam said and pulled me towards the bar, where we downed another pair of cocktails. I was not an avid drinker, so the cocktails in combination with the beer from the Nine Bells was starting to make me tipsy. Sam put an arm around my waist and led me towards the dance floor.

"We haven't been dancing in ages. I am soooo looking forward to this." She said and beamed at me. Her happiness really was contagious. I had to smile. But the louder the electronic music got, the more afraid of the masses of dancing people I became. But I wasn't going to ruin Sam's evening. I watched her smile, her eyes, her cheeks, her cute nose, her swaying strands of hair. Before we entered the floor, she noticed I was glancing at her. She gave me a quick kiss and led me onto the dance floor. Still absorbed by Sam's beauty, I hardly noticed the moving limbs I bumped into. We came to a halt at a spot in the back of the area, where there was enough room for both of us. It only took a few moments before Sam started moving to the rhythm of the music. It always surprised me how she did that, and how natural it looked. She looked fantastic; dancing, radiating joy and energy. It was sexy. Me, on the other hand… I was certainly not a dancer. I'd thought the problem was that I always had a hard time just letting go. Especially in such surroundings. Sam waved her arms at me, inviting me to dance. I sighed, and tried to force myself to move to the beat. I just had to let go, let the music lead me, and not think carefully about every movement I made. Why was that so hard? When she noticed that I still wasn't dancing, Sam pouted at me for a moment, and then came closer to me. She put her arms around my neck and moved her body against mine. It was captivating. And so sexy. I couldn't focus on anything but Sam, her movements, her body against mine, her breasts in her silver dress dragging over my torso. It was turning me on again. The smoke around her feet, how she was lit by the disco lights - it was hypnotizing. I felt my body starting to move in tandem with her. The music was so loud, yet I could hardly hear it. It wasn't the music that made me move, it was Sam. She grinned ear-to-ear. We were dancing, together.

We were both sweating heavily when Sam indicated that she needed a break. I didn't know how long we'd been dancing. She dragged me off the dance floor and back to the bar in the restaurant for another cocktail. She grinned at me. "Lara, oh my god, that was great! I've never seen you dance like that. That was so hot!" I felt a bit proud of myself.

"I'm not done with you yet, though." she told me, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards a staircase leading down. It emerged into a second dance floor, under the one we'd been dancing on. It was not as packed, the light was dim and the music slower, calmer. I guessed this floor was for couples. She dragged me towards a corner in the back of the area again, where we had enough space, and only few people around us. Sam threw her arms around my neck and started moving to the rhythm of the music. I tried to follow suit, but could only manage a kind of swaying movement. "I'm enjoying myself so much," Sam said to me with a grin. The music wasn't as loud on this floor, so she was actually able to communicate properly with me.

"As weird as this may sound, coming from me... I'm actually having fun, as well." I told her.

She beamed at me before biting her lip for a moment. "You looked sooo hot up there." She came closer and wrapped her arms around my head. I had already been turned on by her all day long and was still intoxicated by our dancing, so when she started kissing me affectionately, it was making me breathless instantly. I was so hungry for Sam.

She tilted my head backwards to kiss my chin and neck. "Are you going to tease me again? I swear, I am going to ravage you right here on the dance floor if you do that again." She stopped kissing and laughed into my shoulder.

"Lara, I am sorry. I am so, so sorry," she said while giggling. "That was a horrible idea."

She watched me for a while, absently playing with my ponytail behind me while we kept moving to the music. "Just once... I wanted to make you feel how you make me feel on like... a daily basis." She put her head back on my shoulder and giggled again. After she'd pulled herself together, she continued. "I wish I could make you see yourself through my eyes." She sighed, still smiling, "my god, Lara, you are so beautiful. You turn me on so easily. You drive me absolutely crazy."

I laughed once. "I'm sorry, Sam."

She sighed into my ear. "Sweet torture." She placed kisses down to my shoulder.

My skin was more responsive than usual to her gentle kissing at that point. I got goosebumps. I was quivering. This had to stop. I made her face me. My cheeks were burning again. "Please, Sam, don't. I feel like I am about to..." She didn't let me finish. She just pressed her lips on mine, muffling my attempts to make her stop. She was as hungry as I was. We kissed vigorously, swaying to the beat of the music. Her hands moved down my back and grabbed my behind over the dress.

She broke the kiss. "Unfortunately, I'm teasing myself just as much as I'm teasing you. Oh, my god, I want you so much." She started placing kisses all over my face and down my neck, her hands slowly moving from my backside to my waist, and up to cup my breasts.

It felt so good. I wanted her. But we were still standing on a bloody dance floor. This was a bad idea. "Sam, please- don't." I looked around us while Sam was still kissing my neck. The light was very dim, I could hardly make out the couple closest to us and it did not look like anyone was aware of us. But I was worried that would change. Before I could think about it much more, Sam pulled me back into a kiss. After a while, she leaned back a bit to watch me, while one of her hands moved down my leg. She slid it under the dress and moved it slowly upwards on the inside of my thighs. My legs were shaking at that point. I was breathing quickly, my cheeks were burning. When she placed her hand between my legs, I bit my lip to suppress a groan. Sam smiled at me mischievously. She started rubbing the wet fabric of my soaked panties into me. This... this was too much. I had to put my head onto her shoulder, breathing heavily into it, my arms still wrapped tightly around her. A few moments later, I was biting my lip so hard that I felt a sharp pain. Afraid that I would hurt myself, I released my lip reflexively and instantly let out a long moan into Sam's shoulder. She shuddered.

"Wow. I could've almost come from that myself." Sam sounded breathless, "it's always such a massive turn on when my badass Lara is melting in my arms."

Listening to her being turned on like that added to my own feelings. I wanted to hear more of it. I moved one of my shaking hands down her body, and Sam gasped when I slid it under her dress and into her knickers. I started moving my fingers to the rhythm of Sam's. "Oh, Lara..." she sighed into my ear.

Hearing the sounds she was making beside me now, it didn't take long before I came heavily against her; I kept having waves and waves of it, crying out into her shoulder with each of them, releasing the feeling Sam had been building up all day in me. When it was over, I couldn't move at all for a minute. I just leant against her, panting, my heart pounding against my ribs. After I'd regained control of my legs, I straightened my back to kiss Sam, resuming the movement of my fingers in her underwear. Apparently she'd been on edge herself. Just a few moments later, she wrapped her arms tightly around my shoulders, opened her mouth, parting my lips with hers and moaned loudly into me. Her body shuddered. Afraid her legs would give in, I held her steady against me.

After she'd been able to calm down her breathing, she could only say "Woah."

"I can't believe we just did that. On a bloody dance floor." I told her nervously.

"I know, right? That was awesome!" She grinned at me.

I gulped. "I'm afraid to look around. People might have been staring at us." I pressed my eyes shut.

She turned her head away from me. "No worries, sweetie. No one noticed us, as far as I can tell."

"Sam?"

"Hm?"

"If you ever tease me again like that, I am going to kill you." I was smiling, though.

She grinned. "I should probably fear for my life. Though, I feel like I am going to collapse soon, anyway. God, that was great." She looked exhausted.

"You should work on your fitness."

She rolled her eyes at me. Suddenly a display on the front wall came to life, starting a countdown of one hour.

"I guess that's our cue to take a break at the bar, and then head out." Sam told me with a nod towards the monitor. She put an arm around my shoulders. For a moment, she looked like she wanted to walk towards the exit of the dance floor, but she didn't move. "Ugh, I don't suppose you have a Himiko somewhere that I can use to make you carry me?"

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Wow, Sam. You are such a weakling."

She gave me a mock-insulted look and stormed off on wobbly legs. I quickly caught up to her, swung her arm back around my neck and picked her up effortlessly. Sam shrieked and then started to laugh. I tried hard to look as serious as possible, but she couldn't stop giggling while I carried her up the staircase. We drew the attention of everyone we passed. "My heroine!" She said theatrically when I put her down on a bar stool, and placed a kiss on my cheek.

We ordered some drinks and sat at the bar for a while to recover from our adventures on the dance floor. Eventually, we went to grab our coats, and left the nightclub. The streets were bursting with people as we made our way closer to the Thames. When we found a spot from which we had a nice view of the London Eye and Big Ben. We stood there, arms wrapped around, waiting for the show to begin.

I sighed, thinking back at all of the events that had happened that day. Sam hugged me closer to her, and I winced as she pressed her hand into the spot where one of the drunkards had punched me.

She looked at me alarmed. "Lara, are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing. Just... could you place your hand a little lower?"

She knew why I said that. "Oh, sorry," she apologized with her eyebrows up.

I leaned my head against hers and sighed again. "What a day..."

She laughed once. "Yeah... Geez, those drunks. But, wow, you manhandled them."

"Pff, that was nothing. That flashback was more a piece of work than them." Sam winced as I mentioned that. I looked at her and said "I'm sorry I put you through that."

"Don't say that. I told you, I want to be there for you. And you know that." She placed a kiss on my forehead. "I love you, Lara, I love you so much." She held her left hand in front of me and paused, looking at it for a moment. "It was the happiest day of my life when you gave me that ring. Seriously. I've been so in love with you, for so long. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. No matter what happens, I want to be there for you."

It felt so good hearing her say that. I kissed her cheek and whispered, "Thank you, Sam."

We stood there silently for a while, watching the hustle around us, until we could hear the first toll of Big Ben. When the large digits projected on to the tower of the Shell Centre reached ten, we joined in with the countdown the masses of people around us shouted into the night. I hugged Sam closer to me and leant my head against hers as we watched the colourful fireworks unfold around the huge Ferris wheel to the chimes of the bell inside the Clock Tower.

When the massive spectacle ebbed down, I sighed and told Sam "You know, I think I had enough fireworks and explosions last year."

She snorted. "Yeah... Last year surely has thrown a lot at us. But I have a feeling this year is going to be awesome. And I'm looking forward to spending it with you." After a pause, she added, "and I can't wait for our wedding. It's totally going to be the best ever." With that she pulled me into a firm hug and kissed me gently.

I hugged her closer to me. "No matter what this year has in store, I'm happy you'll be there with me. It's all I want. I love you, Sam."

She smiled at me. "Happy new year."


	4. 12th January

I'd been brooding over my research all morning, hitting several dead ends along the winding way. When my groaning had become too loud for Sam to concentrate on her own work, she'd decided for both of us that it was time for a break. She'd announced that she needed to do some shopping and talked me into accompanying her. Standing in the living room with a large window next to her, she'd checked her mobile phone for the weather and declared we'd take the Tube.

Sam not wanting to drive? At that point I should have become suspicious, but I guess I'll never learn.

She asked me to grab my rucksack and pulled me out of the flat. With arms wrapped around each other, we walked towards the nearby subway station. The weather had cleared up over the last few days, but the temperature had dropped, so we were both wearing gloves and scarves. But it was early afternoon, so the sun was still shining and warming us. Sam seemed oddly cheerful. I mean, it certainly wasn't odd in itself that she was cheerful, because that was her default mood. But I thought I could make out a hint of excitement in her. When she noticed me glancing at her, she gave me a broad smile and kissed my cheek.

"Is something up that I'm not aware of?" I asked her.

"Maybe," she said in a weird tone that sounded almost like a question.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

She just grinned, hugged me closer to her and kept walking. Oh, well. I didn't mind her having her little secrets. It usually meant that she planned on trying to get me to do something that I would never agree to under normal circumstances; but when were circumstances ever normal when Sam was involved? What mattered was that it made her happy, and there was always a charming beauty in her happiness that I just loved. It made me smile.

We entered the subway station and found an unusually large number of people on the platform. The way Sam glanced at them, I knew something was up. "What's going on, Sam?"

She just grinned.

Okay, I kind of had enough of her secretiveness at that point. I was curious. I took out my phone and googled for what could have been happening that day in London. I heard her giggle while I was staring in disbelieve at the screen. "No. No. You can't be serious. Annual No Trousers Subway Ride 2014? You have to be kidding me! Why would we take part in something like that?"

She snatched the phone from my hands and read, "'The mission started as a small prank and has grown into an international celebration of silliness, with dozens of cities around the world participating each year.'"

'Mission for silliness.' Yeah, that sounded like something Sam would do.

I took my phone back and read a bit further. "'Do not talk to others once you enter the station. Nobody knows each other.' That works for me," I said, directing a grim stare at Sam.

When the noise of an incoming train became louder, I toyed with the idea of just leaving the station. But looking at Sam, who was still smiling happily at me, I felt guilty just for playing with that thought. I remembered what I had done to her recently, what I had put her through. My stomach dropped and I sighed deeply. This was my just punishment, I figured. The train stopped and the many people on the platform spread out into every carriage. Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me into one in the middle. Several people, who had entered with us, casually took off their trousers, stashed them in rucksacks, briefcases and bags and sat down, looking completely serious. I got nervous. Sam pushed me away from the door and towards a few free seats. I blushed deeply, when she suddenly pulled down her own jeans in front of me in the middle of the carriage. Holding her trousers in her arms, she looked at me sheepishly.

"Please, don't," I whispered, putting a hand over my eyes.

"Hooo, yes," she said and came closer. I could hear the grin in those words. Putting a hand under my chin, she lifted my head up and gave me kiss, when suddenly the train started to move. Sam shrieked, but I quickly grabbed a handrail and wrapped an arm around her, holding her steady against me.

"My heroine!" She said, planting a kiss on my cheek while fumbling with the button of my trousers.

"That's how you thank me?" I asked with a deadpan.

She just grinned, pushed me down into the seat behind me and pulled my trousers down over my legs. I put my hand back over my eyes, making a mental note to look through Father's notebook for an artefact that can make me invisible. Sam sat down next to me, took the rucksack off my back and stowed our trousers in it. Peeking out between fingers, I looked down at my black knickers and then at the other passengers. We've drawn the attention of most of them, even of several trouser-less ones. "You're going to be the death of me," I murmured. Realizing too late what I'd just said, I looked at her, alarmed. But she just giggled at my reaction, wrapped an arm around me and leant her head on my shoulder.

A young man and woman came over from the other end of the carriage and set down across from us. Neither of them were wearing trousers, either. They whispered briefly with each other, looking at Sam and me. This was beyond awkward.

"Hello, you're Lara Croft, aren't you?" The man asked.

Alarmed, I looked at Sam. "Yes, she is," she replied for me, smiling. Oh god, couldn't she just give me a break for once? I pinched her behind in revenge, making her shriek and giggle.

The trouser-less pair looked amused. "That's so cool. That someone like you takes part in the event today," said the woman.

I raised my eyebrows. "Someone like me?"

"You know, someone as known as you. Or notorious as you," she explained with a smile.

"I know, right? And completely voluntarily, too!" Sam said. I groaned, rolling my eyes.

"Can my friend take a picture of me with you, please?" The man asked me. My eyebrows shot up even higher and I looked down at my knickers and bare legs again.

Sam snorted. "Don't disappoint the one fan you have," she said grinning and moved to make space next to me, waving the guy over.

I sighed as he took a seat next to me. He put an arm around my shoulders and grinned at his friend. My eyebrows were still up when she took a picture of us with her mobile phone. "Awesome, thanks a lot," he said, hugged me briefly and went back to his friend.

"My pleasure... I guess," I said hesitantly and glanced at Sam. She giggled and sat down next to me again.

"I don't believe anything the gossip press apparently 'knew for sure' about you," the woman said.

"Hah, I told you often enough that there's no need to be all emo about it." Sam poked my shoulder and then added, directed at the trouser-less pair, "Lara is a very lovely person." She put a hand on my bare leg.

I smiled, wrapped an arm around Sam and hugged her. "She has a full time job as my personal moral boost." I planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Aww," I heard the man say.

Our conversation was interrupted when the train slowed down and came to a halt. When the hustle of exiting and boarding people ebbed down, a man who sat close to us stood up and walked past us. Suddenly, he grabbed my rucksack and ran out of the carriage. I was confused. "Did he just...?" No way, did I really have to run after that guy without trousers on? I shot up from my seat, put my hands into the closing door of the train and pried it open with a single tug. I sprinted up the stairs ahead of me. At the top, I turned left and right, looking for the thief. I saw him turn into another passage and ran after him. When I turned around the corner, I saw he had already gone up another staircase and was just leaving the station, running through a group of people walking by the exit. I stopped halfway up the staircase and stared at the entrance of the subway station in disbelieve. No no no. This couldn't be happing. I was not going to run through the city without trousers. A man was watching me with his eyebrows up while going down the stairs. I scrunched up my face and looked down at my bare legs. "He stole my trousers..." I murmured and sighed. I heard the clicking noise of a mobile phone behind me.

I turned around and saw Sam at the bottom of the stairs, pointing her phone at me. "I guess he caught you with your pants down." She grinned.

I groaned. "Sam..."

She narrowed her eyes at the screen of her phone. "God, your ass is so amazing." A young couple came down the stairs, watching us curiously.

"Sam!"

Her phone clicked again. "Hooo, yeah." She looked up at me. "What? It really is." She looked at the couple that was now passing her. "Don't you agree?" Sam fiddled with her phone for two seconds and then held it out to them.

I was mortified. And was sure I looked as much. The man glanced at the screen and looked up at me. He held his thumb up with a nervous grin. The woman looked at Sam, at the phone and then saw my expression and laughed.

"Sam!" I put a hand over my eyes. My cheeks were burning.

She fiddled with her phone some more. "Raider... of... the... lost... pants," she murmured at the speed she typed those words.

This was too much. I sat down and put my head into my hands. The stair was uncomfortably cold but I didn't care.

Sam came up and stood next to me for a while, silently. "I guess this is a bad time to mention that I'm slightly turned on by you running around in your panties."

I groaned again and my head sank down onto my knees. This girl. Oh. My. God. "Can't you take anything seriously?" I murmured into my legs.

"What, this? Like," she cleared her throat and continued, trying to mimic my accent, "oh my gosh, that bloody bastard stole my rucksack with one pair of pants! My life is in ruins!" She paused and sat down next to me. "Lara, sweetie. Who cares? We'll get you new ones." She gently rubbed my back for a while and planted a kiss on my head. "I'll call us a cab," she whispered, stroking my bare leg.

I sighed. She was kind of right. Sometimes I wished I was a bit more like her.


	5. 14th February

This day had never been Valentine's Day for me before. As long as I've lived, I'd either been with my parents or... lonely. In the end, it had always 'just' been my birthday or not even that when I had nobody to celebrate with. But this year, for the first time, the Valentine's Day part suddenly mattered. It was Friday and most of our friends were busy, so we'd decided to properly celebrate that I'd survived the year with them on the weekend. Today it would just be Sam and me. That meant, once Sam came home. She had some meeting because of the documentary that she apparently couldn't postpone. We'd had a nice breakfast together during which she'd given me several birthday presents she'd bought. Afterwards, she'd apologized a dozen times for leaving me alone for half of this special day and taken off into the storm that had been raging in the UK for weeks now.

I wanted to surprise her with a romantic, home-made dinner. Actually, I wasn't even sure why I thought I'd be able to prepare something tasty enough that it wouldn't ruin the evening. If only cooking involved digging up a long lost meal somewhere; I'm sure I'd be a top chef. It wasn't that I was completely lost in the kitchen, but my repertoire didn't exactly exceed the 'fried eggs or simple soups' border. I was determined to give cooking dinner for us a try anyway. That supposedly Japanese recipe I'd found on the internet said "easy" after all.

I was lacking some ingredients though. Which meant that I had to go out into the storm as well. I looked at the window in the living room and could hardly see through the torrent of rain drops hammering against the glass. For a moment, I wondered how much an ordered pizza would say "I love you." I sighed, grabbed a rucksack I hoped was at least somewhat rainproof, and put on a warm and comfy coat. I left our flat and went downstairs, stopping in front of the letter boxes. I was curious. I opened our box and a suspicious looking card fell out. It was pink and had roses and hearts on the front side. I opened it and saw a text in squiggly writing on one side with the title "Ode to Lara". Then my attention was drawn to a smiley with pursed lips and the words "Press me" underneath. My thumb was hovering over it as I got distracted by a neighbour, a young man who lived in a flat above ours, who had just entered the building uttering curses about the horrible weather outside. When he noticed me, he greeted politely. I said "Hi," raised my hand to give a quick wave, and in the process of trying to get a better hold of the card in the other hand, my thumb must have landed on the smiley. Surprised, I looked at the card as an inbuilt speaker started crackling for a short moment before a voice that was unmistakably belonging to Sam said "Ode to Lara" and theatrically cleared its throat.

It said:

"You 'bonny lass' are so badass  
When you go HAM, giving no damn  
I am in awe, dropping my jaw"

Raising my eyebrows, I looked at the text in the card and saw that she was reciting it. Sam had written a poem? Oh god. She was putting a lot of expression into reading it, though. I had to smirk.

She continued:

"Yet you're also really shy, though  
When on your mush you have a blush...  
You are so cute, and hot to boot"

Worried about where this poem could be going, I glanced at the neighbour who had walked up to his letter box and was watching me now curiously.

Speaking of blushing...

"I love all bits of your big tits" the poem and Sam's voice went on.

Starting to panic as a couple who lived in a flat next to ours came walking down the stairs, I pressed the smiley again and again, hoping that would make it stop. It did not...

"I'm full of lust for your nice bust  
Your awesome chest is just the best"

Oh god, I could hear the grin in Sam's voice. With burning cheeks I glanced at the couple and then at the man next to me; Sam actually had managed to draw his attention to the part of my body she had just mentioned extensively. Fortunately, I was wearing a thick coat.

"And your hot ass is in a class  
Oh, of its own. It is well known  
Your sweet booty is a beauty"

I heard chuckles behind me. I threw the card back into the letter box, pressed it shut and put an arm over the slot, hoping that would suppress the sound. In my nervousness I hadn't managed to read ahead in the poem, so I didn't know what else was coming.

It turned out my attempts were not enough to muffle the card.

"It'd, by the way, be Fucking A  
If you could stop to chop and drop  
Your poor soma into coma"

I actually felt a spark of guilt hearing that verse.

"I love your face, it's full of grace  
You are pretty, at times witty  
Cunning and smart, with a kind heart"

That... was actually quite sweet. It sounded like the worst of the poem was over.

"You are my light, are by my side.  
The sky is blue; when I see you  
My heart goes boom.

...

Please raid my tomb"

She'd said that last line in her sexiest voice. Oh god. Sighing, I leant my head against my arm on the letter box. To this day, I actually hadn't been sure how much our neighbours knew about what was going on between Sam and me. I was pretty sure that any ambiguity had just been removed.

"I... I'm sorry," I muttered and quickly pulled the hood of my coat over my head before rushing out the front door to flee from my giggling neighbours.

"Thanks, Sam," I thought with my head in my hands while a steady stream of rain drops already soaked through my trousers. I took a few deep breaths, inhaling humid, cold air, while the strong wind fought with my head coverings. When I'd calmed down, I hurried to a nearby Asian supermarket. Luckily I got everything I needed there and I didn't have to walk to any other shops. On my way back, I noticed a familiar car parking across the street. Had Sam come back way earlier than planned?

What I presumed to be her took a package out of the trunk and started walking in the direction of our home. I crossed the street and tried to catch up to her at a hurried pace. When I was getting closer to her, strong gusts of wind blew through the alley and I noticed rubble falling down. I looked up at the old building we were passing and saw that parts of the roof were about to drop.

My heart sank. I darted forwards and threw myself into her side to push her from the pavement. Her package flew out of her hands and onto the street. Just as we landed in a puddle between two parked cars, the rubble crashed onto the ground close to us.

"Fuck!" She screamed and tried to reach out for the package. I quickly grabbed her arm and pulled it back as a car drove by and over whatever she had been carrying, splashing a huge wave of rainwater over both of us.

"Fuck! No, no, no," she said in a pained voice as she looked at the ruined box. "Who the fuck..." She turned around, throwing me down from her back and into the edge of the pavement. "Lara?" Sam looked surprised and horrified as she saw me wincing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. And you?" I asked as I stood up and held out a hand towards her. She took it letting me help her up.

"I.." She paused and looked at the box on the street and then back at me, her eyebrows meeting in the middle. "No, I'm not! This was the best cake ever made in the history of mankind! You've ruined the eighth Wonder of the World! Why?"

"I'm sorry but you were about to get crushed by a building!" I pointed at the rubble.

She raised her eyebrows at it and then lowered them again as she turned her head back towards the street. We stood there for a moment, completely drenched. "Couldn't you just let me get hit and save the cake instead?" she said in a low voice.

"Sam! It's just a cake."

"No, it's not. I had it made for today in that bakery that makes this delicious pastry I sometimes buy. It had a little marzipan pyramid on top and a little mummy." She made gestures with her hands illustrating her description. "And the upper half had a little labyrinth filled with this blue, yummy jelly and the topping... oh god, that topping." She sighed, looking like she was about to tear up. "I was so looking forward to eating it with you. It was supposed to be our comfort eating to talk about and leave behind the memories of our stupid 'trip'. We would have eaten the cake, and talk, and laugh and cry and then cuddle and have a great evening in bed together and... It would have been such a nice day." She frowned and ran a hand over her head, moving wet strands of hair out of her face. She sat down onto the hood of the car behind her triggering its alarm which made both of us startle.

"Shit!" Sam jumped up, grabbed my hand and dragged me away. "Let's go home."

When we entered the flat, we both were dripping and miserably cold. We rushed into our rooms to put on dry clothes. I threw my wet ones into the bathroom and when I stepped back out, Sam was sitting on the couch shivering. I turned on the heating, grabbed some blankets from a cupboard and sat down next to her to wrap them around us with quivering hands. Sam was frowning at the empty table in front of us.

"Hey," I said softly.

She shook her head. "Your poor cake... Just... let me grieve and be miserable."

"We can eat something else. I actually was about to cook dinner for us."

Sam glanced at me sceptically, raising an eyebrow.

I gave her a scowl in response. "Thank you very much for your confidence in my cookery, Ms. Nishimura."

When she turned away, I put one of my icy hands on her cheek to make her face me again. I pecked her lips and began singing in a low voice:

"I just want you here tonight  
Holding on to me so tight  
What more can I do  
All I want for my birthday is you."

"Ohh baby," she said smiling faintly.

I pushed her back into the couch and straddled her lap keeping the blankets wrapped around us. I put my arms around her neck and locked eyes with her. "My condolences for your loss but today is not a day to mourn." I leant forward and pressed my lips against hers. She relaxed into my arms and kissed back. Only a short while later, her tongue already begged for entrance. I let her pass and our kiss quickly became passionate. Her hands moved over my back and down to grab my behind.

When our mouths parted minutes later so that we could catch our breaths, Sam was noticeably happier. I kissed down her neck, along her collarbone and back up to her ear before whispering into it: "And now... I'll make dinner." I got up and was about to walk away when Sam grabbed my arm.

"But but but... you have to keep me warm," she said giving me a pleading look.

I took the blankets and wrapped them around her entire body until only her head poked out. I had to chuckle at that sight. "Warm enough?" I asked while gently stroking her cheek. She leant into my hand for a while, before I placed a kiss on her head and turned around. I grabbed the remote, turned on the TV for her and headed into the kitchen. I was actually somewhat jealous because I was still freezing while she was comfortably warm and on the couch.

I took my mobile phone out of a pocket of my lounge trousers and brought up the recipe for pepper-crusted tuna steaks. I filled some water into the pressure cooker Sam had bought for me some time ago to support my attempts in cooking, placed it onto the stove and turned on the hob. When I put the trivet and a steamer basket inside, they clanked against the metal of the pot's body because my hands were still shaking. I took the potatoes out of the shopping bag, placed them into the pot and closed it. I rummaged through a cupboard and found a suitable saucepan I didn't even know we had. I put it onto another burner and turned it on. When I turned around to take ingredients out of the bag, Sam was suddenly standing in front of me, making me jump. I was so concentrated on preparing the meal that I hadn't noticed her coming into the kitchen. Luckily I'd gotten rid of the habit to grab the closest weapon in situations like this... at least when I was at home.

Sam still had two blankets wrapped around her.

"Hey," I said a little breathless, took the shopping bag and placed it onto the kitchen counter.

I was just about to turn around again and ask Sam if there was anything I could do for her, when she stepped up behind me, pulled the blankets over my shoulders, wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder. I leant my head against hers, closed my eyes and sighed contentedly, enjoying the sudden warmth Sam was providing and the physical closeness to her.

"Looking good," she said eventually, throwing me out of my trance.

I looked at the cooker in front of me and was slightly puzzled what she meant. "But... uh... I've only just started."

"I meant you," she whispered before placing a kiss on my cheek. I smiled.

As I was taking the ingredients for the sauce out of the bag, Sam said "I'm sorry for being such a downer today. It's your birthday and you had to cheer me up. I suck."

"But it's also Valentine's Day and I love you," I replied in the sweetest tone I could muster and lifted one of her hands to my mouth to peck its back. I could feel her cheek shift into a grin against my neck.

"I was watching you being busy in the kitchen and was all like 'God, this hot babe there is making dinner for me and, hey, it's my fiancée.' I'm so lucky." She kissed and licked down my neck before placing her lips into the crook of it, sucking at the skin. A whimper escaped my mouth as a pleasant shiver ran down my back.

I startled when the pressure cooker suddenly started hissing. I quickly lowered the heat under the pot.

"Don't let anything scorch," Sam mumbled into my neck. I looked at the saucepan and noticed that it had gotten quite hot already. I needed to prepare the ingredients quickly.

"Let me help you cook," Sam whispered and kissed that sensitive spot under my ear while slipping her hands under my hoodie.

"Sam, that's not helping. I need to concentrate on this," I said panicking slightly as I took a peeler from a drawer and set to work on the ginger.

"Multitasking," she murmured while slowly moving her tender hands over my belly. I couldn't help halting for a moment to enjoy the warm feeling that spread out from my middle from the sensation of Sam's fingers gliding over my skin.

I took a few deep breaths and continued peeling the ginger.

Sam made a silent, annoyed sound when my sweatshirt hindered her hands from travelling further up my body.

"Sam, please," I said as she pulled down the zip of the hoodie a few seconds later.

Unfazed by my pleading, her hands slowly moved over my bra. Apparently unsatisfied by that, she quickly unfastened the clasp behind my back. My breasts fell out under the bra.

I just peeled off the last bits from the ginger when Sam cupped my breasts, gently squeezing them and rolling my nipples around between her fingertips. A warmth crept into my cheeks. I had to moan and accidentally dropped the bloody peeler because I couldn't concentrate. It clattered over the kitchen floor as I lost sight of it. I needed to hurry to prepare everything for the sauce, but Sam didn't make it easy for me to focus.

"Sam," I pleaded half-heartedly and put my hands over hers as she continued to massage my breasts.

She just murmured a "Mmhmm," and gently bit down into the crook of my neck making me shudder.

I needed a distraction for both of us if I didn't want to set the flat ablaze by neglecting the stove. "I know you 'love all bits of my big tits' but..." I recited her poem a little breathlessly. That made her halt for a moment in which it seemed safe enough for me to take a knife and cut the ginger.

"Oh, you listened to my card?" She grinned against my skin.

"Yes, me and most of our neighbours when I checked our mail earlier," I replied while crushing some cloves of garlic, trying to put an accusing tone into my voice – which might have ended up sounding more aroused than anything, though.

"Did you like it?" She whispered sheepishly and slowly moved a hand away from my chest.

"It was quite..." I dragged the words out as I excitedly watched her hand slide down my body. I inhaled sharply with anticipation when it slipped into my knickers. "Lovely," I blurted when a finger pressed down on its target. I exhaled soundly and braced myself on the kitchen counter – almost putting a hand into the saucepan - when she started gently circling her finger around my clit.

"Don't forget the meal," Sam whispered while nibbling on my earlobe, drawing part of my attention back to the pan while keeping the rest of it for herself.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" I accused her while trying to figure out where the knife I swear I'd held in my hand just a moment ago had disappeared to. Unable to move my head properly due to my ear still being captured between Sam's teeth, I gave up on the knife and reluctantly grabbed my phone to look at the recipe. I had to read every instruction at least three times and eventually dropped it back down onto the counter as Sam pinched my nipple while kissing the nape of my neck. I tilted my head slightly forward to give her lips better access.

"Not as much as you, it seems," Sam purred with a mischievous giggle.

Sam made another annoyed sound and stopped her movement in my trousers. When my hoodie denied her access to more skin of my back, I knew I should have ignored her then and taken the chance to work on the meal. Instead of doing that, I let my sweatshirt slide down my arms and drop to the floor. I wanted her to continue. Just a moment later my bra kept it company at our feet. I was rewarded with an approving groan from Sam as she kissed and licked over my shoulder blades and back. Her finger in my knickers started tapping my clit; I whimpered, my body writhing under her touch.

After a minute that seemed to last forever in which I wasn't able to concentrate on anything but Sam, I had to force myself to continue preparing our dinner as the increasing heat of the pan reminded me of its presence. I poured some mirin into it and took a spoon from a drawer to measure the other ingredients – or so I thought. When I was about to pour the soy sauce onto it, I noticed I was holding three spoons. Sam giggled.

"I'll blame you when I accidentally burn down the kitchen," I murmured.

Adding the right amount of the remaining ingredients to the sauce proved to be another challenge as I had trouble holding the spoon in my unsteady hand when trying to pour the liquids onto it. After I'd put everything necessary into the pan, I threw the spoon across the kitchen counter, feeling the tingling sensation in my groin gradually intensify. Without thinking my hips moved themselves against Sam's hand as I quickly took the pressure cooker from the stove, reduced the heat under the saucepan and stirred its content once.

Finally able to catch a break, I turned around, grabbed Sam's head and pressed her into my hungry lips. Kissing her feverishly, I pushed her backwards and shoved her onto the kitchen table. I heard something shatter on the ground. Sam wrapped her legs around my tights and pulled me closer. One of her hands still working its magic between my legs, she used her free one to pull one of her blankets over my bare back. When the need for air became too great, I broke the kiss and propped myself up on shaky elbows to look down at Sam. My wonderful, lovely Sam.

Gently caressing my cheek, she was watching me closely with her mouth curved into a sweet smile. "You're so beautiful when you're turned on," she said softly and bit her lip.

I felt my cheeks burning at her compliment; I had to smile as well. I leant down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Only you get to see me like this. I love you," I told her panting.

She put her hand behind my neck and pulled herself up a bit. "Cum for me," she whispered pleadingly, her breath tickling my ear. I felt each word rush into my groin. Moaning, I shifted my hips against her hand, intensifying the movement of her finger between my thighs. Sam rolled her back down onto the table. Running a hand through my hair, she observed every movement on my face. I wrapped my arms around her head. Seeing how much she wanted to watch me come, that hungry look on her sweet face, tipped me over the edge.

As if my body was eager to give Sam a marvellous show, the orgasm slowly built up around her touch, holding back as long as possible to the point of aching. Then, it exploded in full force. My muscles tensed, my back arched. Countless threads of pleasure shot out into every fibre of my being, tearing through my body. It jerked with every wave of them. I moaned and gasped... and finally sighed as I collapsed onto Sam, head in the crook of her neck.

"Oh, my god, that was beautiful. I'm gonna have wet dreams for months," Sam murmured and then added as quietly as possible: "I wish I'd set up a camera." Oh, god.

Her hands moved slowly over my back under the blanket and she placed kisses over my shoulder as I tried to steady my breathing.

After a minute or two, her mouth slowly moved to my ear. "The sauce," she whispered in her sexy voice.

My eyes flew wide open. Shit! Panicking, I jumped up from the table and rushed to the stove. Sam giggled. I quickly turned off the hob and removed the pan from it. Surprisingly the sauce still looked good. I let out a deep breath of relief. I took another peek at the recipe and set to work on the potatoes.

I placed a bowl onto the kitchen counter, opened the pressure cooker, took a fork and knife from a drawer, and just when I started peeling the first potato, Sam crept up to me again and popped up at my side. I gave her a worried glance as I put the fork into the next potato. She just smiled lovingly, wrapped her arms around me and, resting her head on my shoulder, looked at me. It didn't take long before her hands started wandering again, gently caressing my skin. I always enjoyed the tender touch of her fingers, but it was so distracting right now when I was trying to cook; and she knew it.

"Sam, you're merciless. I have a meal to prepare."

"It's not my fault you're so hot. I just can't keep my hands off you," she said in a seductive voice and placed her lips on my shoulder. "It's the spring fever," she murmured into my skin.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "But it's not spring yet."

"Shh, don't tell anyone," she whispered and kissed me. Still intoxicated by our previous interaction, I couldn't help but instantly respond to those soft lips of her. Spitted potato in hand, I wrapped my arm around her neck. As if she didn't want to let me go, she moved one hand to the back of my head holding it in place; her other hand slowly ran up and down my bare back.

When our mouths eventually parted, I leant my head against hers, our foreheads touching. Sam must have infected me with her imaginary fever, I actually felt like forgetting about the dinner and locking both of us in my room for the rest of the day. Instead of doing as much, though, I asked her with a smile: "Can I continue preparing the meal now?" I had promised her this dinner and I thought we both needed something warm to eat.

"Hmmm." She exaggerated trying to look like she was pondering an answer.

Meanwhile I peeled the potato next to her head.

When Sam noticed what I was doing, she flatly said: "No," and pressed me into her lips again. I shook the peeled potato off the fork hoping it would land in the bowl – it did not. Half of it spread itself out over the kitchen counter.

I tried to protest with muffled sounds that didn't seem to faze Sam at all; so I poked around inside the pressure cooker with a fork trying to hit the remaining potato. A series of metallic clanking suggested that I was missing, but at least they drew Sam's attention.

"Okay, okay, " she murmured and moved her hand away from the back of my neck.

I kissed her cheek, up her nose and her forehead before removing my arm from around her shoulders and reluctantly turned back to the kitchen counter. I took a deep breath trying to clear my head and set to work on the last potato. Sam's fingertips drew a line down my chest, through the valley between my breasts and over my abdomen before her hand slid between my legs over the trousers moving up and down my inner thighs. When the potato was done and safely placed in the bowl, I looked down my body for a moment and bit my lip as I watched Sam's hand move back and forth over my crotch. Her other hand had wandered down my back to firmly grope my buttocks. This girl... Sam had ignited my lust again. Rocking my hip against her hands, I wrapped an arm around her and pressed my mouth back against hers.

Sam had to grin against my lips and said in between kisses: "Uh uh, you don't want our meal to get cold, do you?" She broke the kiss, rubbed her belly and said sheepishly: "I'm getting hungry." After a pause, she added in a sultry voice: "And you whet my appetite," before licking along my collarbone.

"Why are you torturing me?" I whispered in a suffering tone. Sam just shrugged briefly with a mischievous smile and waved a hand towards the bowl. A desperate sound escaped my throat. I took another deep breath, scraped the damaged potato from the counter and put what I could rescue into the bowl. Sam kissed along my shoulder and buried her head into my neck again as I took another peek at the recipe since I'd completely forgotten every instruction meanwhile. When I reached for the wasabi in the shopping bag, Sam kissed down the side of my body, pulling my trousers and knickers to my ankles. After she helped me step out of them, she looked up at me and made a quick nod towards the potatoes with a smile from ear to ear. I made a strangled noise, squeezed a bit of wasabi into the bowl and, staring at Sam with lowered eyebrows, threw the tube across the room. That made her laugh.

Trying hard to retain a deadpan, I returned whatever attention I had left to the meal hoping to animate Sam to continue giving me hers, since she was apparently deliberately trying to sabotage my cooking. I took the salt and pepper shakers and added the spices to the potatoes. I felt quite awkward standing naked in the kitchen, trying to cook. Sam kissed up my back before winding her arms around me and resting her head on my shoulder, watching me from the side. I glanced at her and gave her a quick kiss before taking the soy milk carton out of the shopping bag and adding a shot to the potatoes. I could feel her eyes bore into me when she slowly moved a hand back down to my hips. I was trying to bite back a moan as it slipped between my thighs. A tranquillizing warmth started to feather out through my body again. I inhaled sharply and held onto her arm when Sam suddenly slipped a couple of fingers into me.

"Wow, you are so wet." She sounded both amused and aroused. Even I could hear the truth in her words when she slightly moved her fingers around inside me.

"I wonder why," I mocked.

It made a hot, wet sound when she pulled out of me again. With an expectant lip-bite, she held her glistering fingers in front of my mouth, testing whether arousal had taken over my usually reserved nature. Before I knew what I was doing, my lips were wrapped around them and I'd licked them clean. Sam moaned with satisfaction. I felt a deep blush creeping onto my already warm cheeks, but looking at Sam I could clearly see how turned on she was by what I just had done. I enjoyed that flustered look she was giving me.

"You're officially my favourite plaything. Oh god, I love you so much," Sam said and leant in for another kiss.

"I'm not a thing," I managed to whisper before her lips met mine.

"Mhm," she murmured into me.

"Back to work, Ms. Head chef," she said breathlessly between kisses.

"Maybe we should just order pizza," I suggested jokingly when our mouths parted, but at this point I was hoping that Sam would actually agree to it and I could carry her to my bed.

"No way. I'm not gonna miss out on your cooking." She slowly kissed down my back and added: "The faster you are done with the meal, the earlier you don't have to split your attention anymore."

I groaned, took a fork and tried to mash the potatoes whereas Sam crouched behind me, massaging and kissing my behind; I would have preferred her being on the other side of my body though.

"If I starve you, will you eat me out instead?" I joked while churning the entire mashed potato mass with a cooking spoon.

Sam froze and stood up again. "Did you just make a sexy joke?" She almost sounded shocked.

I glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. "You're a bad influence on me."

Sam just grinned, ducked under my arm and re-emerged in front of me. She pecked my lips and then whispered into my ear: "Your wish is my command." Just thinking about that intensified the tingling in my groin; my lips curved into a smile.

Sam kissed my neck, along the shoulder and collarbone. I wound my arms around her head, stroking through her dark hair. I closed my eyes to enjoy the feeling of her cupping my breasts, capturing one in her mouth, her tongue playing with my nipple, circling and flicking it.

After a while, she gently bit down on it making me whimper. She looked up at me and said through her teeth: "I'm still hungry though. Please?" She dragged the last word out as she rolled the nipple around between her teeth.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. I pressed Sam's head back into my chest and placed a kiss on the top of it before putting a frying pan with some oil on the stove. While I peppered the tuna steaks on both sides, Sam's kisses wandered further down to my navel where she halted and dipped her tongue into it to play with my ticklish nub. I couldn't suppress a giggle and half-heartedly tried to push her away when she looked up at me with a grin and continued to tease me for a bit longer. When my giggling was close to turning into laughter, she stopped, gave my belly a firm kiss and snuggled into for a while sighing contentedly. She looked so cute, I smiled down at her and slowly moved a hand through her hair.

The sizzling of the oil drew my attention back to the stove. I put the steaks into the frying pan and basted them with some of the sauce I'd made earlier. I looked back down at Sam just as she was placing a kiss on the still sensitive skin of the scar on the side of my waist.

Sam knelt down between my legs and my breathing became quicker with excitement when her mouth moved down one thigh and licked back up on the inside. She moved to the other thigh, and I was close to flatly pressing her head into my lap when she suddenly did the exact opposite by sitting back. She just looked at my slit while her hands travelled up and down my legs and over my abdomen.

Sam was blushing, and the way she almost panted with arousal and excitement, I wasn't sure whether she was teasing me or herself.

Since Sam had loosened her grip on my attention for the moment, I returned a part of it to the stove to flip the steaks. As soon as I was done, I placed my hands back onto Sam's head and slightly rocked my hips into her direction. My body was aching for her touch. Her eyes still fixed on the same spot, she smiled and eventually leant forwards. My breathing hitched when she pressed the tip of her nose against my throbbing clit and inhaled slowly, relishing my scent.

"God, is there anything that isn't perfect about you?" she murmured and I felt her warm breath tickling my sensitive skin. She took in another sip of sex filled air from between my legs and teasingly blew it back out against my clit. I was about to plead for her to give me release when Sam slowly dragged her tongue over my sensitive nub. I sighed loudly, releasing a breath I had been holding for what seemed to be minutes. Sam was usually way less cautious, but for some reason she seemed to really enjoy taking it slow now. I grabbed her hair and hold onto her while she carefully played with my clit. I just wanted to forget everything around me and melt onto her. I didn't get the chance to do that, though; suddenly she stopped and gave the spot she'd been licking a quick kiss.

Puzzled I opened my eyes and got reminded of the meal again. I turned off the heat and removed the pan from the hob.

"Dinner is ready," I whispered reluctantly and sighed. The way Sam loves to mess with me, I wouldn't have put it past her to stand up and get to the table to eat. But she had other plans.

"Hooo yeah, I know" she murmured with a smile, opened her mouth and buried her face between my legs, making little happy noises as she licked through my lips, lapping and sucking at my wetness. My trembling thighs tightened around her head. And when her tongue finally entered my body I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep myself upright for much longer. I grabbed Sam's blankets from the table, threw them to the floor and laid down without releasing Sam's head from my lap once.

My perception of my surroundings quickly got reduced to Sam's lips and tongue and what she was doing with them. I raised my head for a moment, I wanted to see Sam. She was looking at me, her eyes glowing with happiness, her cheeks burning with arousal, it was adding to my own feelings. But Sam seemed to take the fact that I was still able to move my head as incentive to increase her efforts. She put a hand in front of her onto my body and shortly after I felt a finger rub against my clit while her tongue slid deeper into me, the tip caressing that sensitive spot inside. Oh, God. My head fell back down and I'm sure I made all kinds of noises as I lay there, drowning in pleasure. I held onto Sam's head when she pushed me over the edge again. My sweating body shuddered, buckled and melted as I poured myself into Sam's mouth. She held me there for an endless minute before I came down again and gasped for air.

I relaxed onto the floor, unable and unwilling to move. Sam had crawled up and snuggled into me.

"You're the world's best appetizer," she said and licked her lips seductively.

This girl... I laughed once and leant my head against hers. If my cheeks hadn't still been burning, I'm sure a blush would have shown. We lay together for a few minutes while I tried to gain control of my body again. I smiled when I felt Sam drawing heart-shaped lines on my sweaty skin. When the floor became too uncomfortable, I asked: "Dinner?"

"Dinner," she replied and stood up.

I couldn't do much more than hold a hand into her direction with a pleading look. Sam laughed and pulled me up into a hug. She sighed, let go of me and left the kitchen. I collected my clothes from the floor and redressed myself. I put our meal onto plates and when I was setting the table, Sam returned with a wine bottle and a grin and took two glasses out of a cupboard. After I had taken a seat at the table, Sam grabbed her plate, put it next to mine and sat down on my lap. I looked at her with raised eyebrows, but she just placed a kiss on my wrinkled forehead and turned towards the food.

"Let's see," she murmured and took a bite.

"Wow, this is delicious." She sounded both surprised and genuine. "I guess I'll have to get you off more often while you cook."

"If you want me to get an aneurysm and die of stress, sure," I replied with a shrug.

Sam chuckled shortly. But then she gently stroked my cheek and said: "No, I don't want that."

"Sam, is something up? You've become so overly affectionate. I mean... Not that I mind. It's just... a bit unlike you?" I asked with an apologetic smile.

Sam's expression cycled through a smirk, what seemed to be a puzzled look and then settled into resignation.

"Fuck, I don't know what just happened," she said and ran a hand through her hair. "I was totally having the most fun ever playing with you while you tried to cook; it was funny and so fucking goddamn sexy. And suddenly, it was like a switch flipped and I realized that I was having so much fun with you, and that you let me. And my mind was suddenly flooded with all these thoughts how much I love you and how incredibly happy and lucky I am to have you and that you want me too, so much that you even want to marry me and... and..." Her voice became lower. She hugged me tightly and buried her head in my neck and then whimpered as if she was close to crying: "I love you so much."

"It's the spring fever," I said and kissed her blushing cheek.


	6. 14th February (extra)

Ode to Lara  
(by Samantha Nishimura)

You 'bonny lass' are so badass  
When you go HAM, giving no damn  
I am in awe, dropping my jaw

Yet you're also really shy, though  
When on your mush you have a blush...  
You are so cute, and hot to boot

I love all bits of your big tits  
I'm full of lust for your nice bust  
Your awesome chest is just the best

And your hot ass is in a class  
Oh, of its own. It is well known  
Your sweet booty is a beauty

It'd, by the way, be Fucking A  
If you could stop to chop and drop  
Your poor soma into coma

I love your face, it's full of grace  
You are pretty, at times witty  
Cunning and smart, with a kind heart

You are my light, are by my side.  
The sky is blue; when I see you  
My heart goes boom

Please raid my tomb


End file.
